Machine for making rubber footwear.



No. 878,572. PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908.

v A. 0. $QUIRES. 111101111111 FOR MAKING RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED APB..30.1907.

INVENTOR- Wzfnesse JrfbUrCLSQ E" a157,?? 1 v l BY flrrof zy.

. 30 and as it has been found commercially UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR C. SQUIRES, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-EIGHTH TO RUSSELL T.DOBSON, OF AKRON, OHIO, ONE-FOURTH TO ELMER G. LAHR AND TWO-SIXTEENTHSTO CHESTER N. RUSSELL, BOTH OF CUYAHOGA FALLS, OHIO, ONE-SIXTEENTH TOCHARLES SENN, OF MONROE FALLS, OHIO, ONE-SIXTEENTH TO NICK HUBER, OFAKRON, OHIO, ONE-SIX- TEENTH TO HARRY E. BOWMAN. OF CUYAHOGA FALLS,OHIO, AND ONE-SIXTEENTH TO CHARLES H. STAHL AND ONE-TENTH TO GEORGE W.GRIDLEY, BOTH OF AKRON,

OHIO.

rmcnn'm non MAKING RUBBER 'roo'rwnan.

Patented. Feb. 1 1 1 908.

Application filed April 30. 1907. Serial No. 371.049.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C. SQUIRES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in' the county of Summit and State 5 of Ohio, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making RubberFootwear, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for manufacturing rubber footwear,and the object thereof is toprovide a mechanical means for placingcertain of the componentparts of foot wear in'position on the last, in amore satisfactory and perfect manner than can be accomplished .by hand,and also accomplish the same in much less time. In the commonmanufacture of rubberboots and shoes the fabric lining is 1placed uponthe last and after stretching to p ace, the ends of thelinin lapped atthe rear of the heel, where y a seam is formed. The same operation isemployed with respect to the upper, resulting 1n asecond seam beingformed which is superposed on the lining seam itself, materiallyincreasing the thickness of the shoe at this point and aconsequent-weakness due to the employment of the seams.

This invention contemplates the use of a seamless lining and also aseamless upper,

1mpossible heretofore to place seamless hnings and uppers upon lasts, itis the primary object of this invention to place linings and uppers ofthis description perfectly in position upon the last during the buildingup of a shoe preparatory to vulcanization. In order to make a perfectshoe the wrinkles must be removedand air bubbles expelled from thestructure before the same is vulcanized, and my invention contemplatesemploying such mreans as will properly accomphsh these resu ts. a

, One form of and a practical embodiment of my invention is illustratedin the accom- 4 panying drawings, in which similar reference numeralsindicate like parts in the difierent figures. In the drawings, Figure 1is a perspective view of a portion of my improved device; Fig. 2alongitudinal, central, vertical section of a device embodying myinvention; Fig. 3

are

is a plan view showing the general outline of a shoe upper employed inconnection with myinvention; and, Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a shoelast with a seamless upper and lining in position. thereon.

The structure which I prefer to employ consists generall of a boxcontaining a suitable form for t e reception of the last, a plunger toforce the last into the form and retain it there, and means forcompressing an elastic form or mold about the last 11 on which thelining or upper has been place It will be stated before giving adetailed description of the apparatus, that the same device is capableof placing not only the seamless lining but also the seamless upperposition, and a description of one will y with equal pertinency to theother.

escribing specifically the device illustrated in the drawings, thereference nu-v meral '1 is a hollow air-tight member, hereinafterreferred to for the purpose of this description as a box, consisting ofa bottom,

sides 2 and ends 3, all constructed of any suitable or referred materialand securely united toget er b any of the ordinary fastening devicessucas screws 4. Across the top of this box is laid and preferably strainedvery slightly, a sheet of rubber 5 which is comparatively thick andwhich has formed in its central portion a pocket '6 having the generaloutline of a boot or shoe last of a certain style and size. This pocketwill be hereinafter referred to as the mold. The rubber of which thesheet5 and mold 6 is composed need not be highly elastic, butsufficiently firm to resist unintentional change of form by repeateduse. Upon the rubber sheet 5 is placed a cover 7 consisting of a sheetof rigid material, such as wood or sheet metal having an opening thereincorresponding in outline to the top of the mold 6 and adapted to bevertically flush therewith. Upon the cover 7 is placed an a ron -8 ofthin and highlyelastic and resi-ient rubber having the capability ofstretching to a great extent and returning to its normal fiat conditionat all time. In order to maintain the apron 8, as well as the cover 7and mold sheet 5 inposition, there are placed on the top of the apron 8strips of suitable material 9 secured to the sidesand ends of the box byappropriate fastening devices such'as screws 10, so that all thepartsconstituting the top of the box are unlted together and heldfixedly in osition.

It will be seen from t e foregoing de-- scription, that when all theparts are in.

proper position, the structure will present the appearance of anordinary box with an elastic rubber a ron covering the top thereof, suchas is in icated in Fig. 1. Air under ressure is conveyed to the interiorof the Box by means of an inlet pipe 11 provided with a threeway cock-12having an exhaust vent 13 by which any air returning from'the boxafter'the cessation of the pressure therein will be permitted to escapetherethrough.

Mounted above the box 1 is a plunger 14, (only the lower end of which isshown in Fig. 2) which is provided with a pair of fingers 15 arranged topress upon the heel and,

sole of a last during the process of placing the lining and upper ofa'rubber shoe and to force the last downward into the mold 6 after Mtaken and after being inverted, held immediately over the seamlesslining on the a ron 8. The plunger 14 is then caused to escend forcingthe last down into the mold 6, carrying with it the lining, which duringthe descent of the last into the mold will be shaped about the sides ofthe last and caused to conform thereto to a certain'extent. As soon asthe plunger has made its entire downward movement, and while stillretained there air under pressure is admitted to the interior of the box1 by means of the cook 12 which.

causes the elastic mold 6 to be compressed against the apron which hasbeen forced downward into the mold 6 with the last and which in turnforces the lining against the last evenly and perfectly, removing allwrinkles therein and driving therefrom any air bubbles that might existthereunder. As

soon as the air pressure has-compressed the mold 6 upon the apronsurrounding the last and lining, the plunger may be withdrawn and thelast remain securely held Within the confines of the elastic mold, forthe reason that as the lasts used for this purpose conform in contour tothe ordinary shoe, and as the molds 6 are made to conform to the lasts,the pressure of air will force the upper and lateral portions of themold and apron into the hollow ortion of the last which exists between te heel and sole of the last, thereby holding the last securely againstupward movement; and as the mold 6 itself is held from being forcedupward by reason of the cover 7, the last will remain fixedly inposition until the air pressure is released.

.ward the last and throw it completely out of i the mold 6 In placing anupper on the lining, the same operation is used as has just beendescribed with reference to the lining, with this exception, that theankle portion of the last is placedsothat it will project through theopening in the upper and when the plunger forces the last downwardly,the upper will be forced onto the lining on the last in proper positionthereon and the same process takes place with respect to the upper ashas been described with reference to the lining. After the upper hasbeen securely placed indposition and before the air pressure is reducein the box 1, the last being fixedly held in position, the outside soleof the foote wear is placed in position by hand and caused to adhere tothe mturned portions of the upper by manual pressure; then the pressureof air is released and the last with its footwear thereon is thrownupwardly by the apron and sent to the vulcanizing department. It will beseen from the foregoing description, that this device aifords a perfectmeans for placing these two portions of a rubber shoe in posi tionwithout any danger of wrinkles occurring or air existingunder or betweenthe various layers which go to make up the shoe, and also the necessityof employing seams is elimi nated, thereby making a more erfect shoewithout the necessity of the emp oyment of a great amount of hand labor,thus making the manufacture of shoes by this device more perfect, cheapand expeditious.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A-device of the class described comprising a hollow air-tight member,an elastic dia- I phragm extending across said member provided with a deending open-topped mold formed integral tl ierewith, an inflexiblemember provided with an o' ening corresponding in contour to said molsuperposed on said dia hragm, 'an elastic apron secured above saiinflexible member and arranged'to envelop articles forced into saidmold, and means for producing an even and simultaneous pressure of saidmold upon anobject ,contained therein. 5

' 2. The combination in a device of the class described, of a hollowair-tight box, an elastic diaphragm extending across said box providedwith a depending compressible mold formed integral therewith, a coverfor said box provided with an opening so positioned as to register withthe opening in said mold,

ing an elastic member arranged to inclose the article,-an'elasticsustaining means integral with said elastic member, a substantiallyrigid member rovided with an ening registering with t e opening in saide astic member for maintaining said member against outwarddistortion,and means for exerting a fluid pressure about said elastic member-forcompressing said member upon a form carrying superimposed adhesiveportions of the article to be produced.

4. A device for forming articles of a plurality of adhesivesuperimpositions comprising an elastic envelop to inclose a-formcarrying said impositions elastically sustained,

a rigid member provided with an opening registering with t e opening insaid envelo an elastic apron suitably sustained on t e opppsite side ofsaid rigid member arranged to e carried into said envelop and inclosethe-article while sustained therein, and a fiuid pressure-producinginstrumentality to cause the compression of said envelop on saidarticle. a

5. A device for roducing articles from a plurality of adhesive memberssuccessively imposed on a suitable form comprising an elastic envelopconforming a proximatel to the sha e of the article to e produce aridprovi ed with an integral sustaining member for elastically maintainingsaid en velop, an elastic member adapted to cover the open'face of saidenvelo and to inclose the article to be produced an be carried into saidenvelop with said article, and means for producing fluid pressure aboutsaid en- I velop, whereby the successive superimpositions on said formare caused to simultaneously adhere to one another.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR C. SQUIRES.

Witnesses:

C. E. HUMPHREY, GLENARA Fox.

